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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: land · toast · net · squash · capital · wake · wind · race

  1. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. squash — to crush
  4. race — the arms race
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. wind — moving air
  8. net — for catching
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. toast — a drink to someone
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. toast — bread
  13. race — humankind
  14. wind — moving air
  15. land — a country
  16. land — to come down
  17. capital — money
  18. squash — the sport
  19. wake — a trail
  20. net — in sport
  21. capital — a city
  22. land — ground
  23. race — a contest
  24. net — after costs

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com